From Minnie's Ditch To John's Ditching

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Monthly Archives: May 2015

One company buys the land, hammers out the details to get permits then sells it to someone else who may or may not build what was approved.

The property — which includes both 484 Cannery Row, which is Oceanside; and 501 Cannery Row, which is on the other side of the street — is just over 3 acres of land. On May 4, 2015, Altman Brothers, a luxury real estate agency based in Beverly Hills, put a listing online. Brittany Clark, with Altman Brothers, said the $20 million buy is already generating $400,000 annually for a parking lot on the 501 Cannery Row side of the street.

Chamber president, Moe Ammar calls the development partners “the dream team” who he believes can do great things with the property given their collective backgrounds and intent. “We want people to come out and give their input,” said Ammar.

If approved, the lot line adjustment would split the property into two parcels. Parcel 1 would be the 120,000-square-foot Holman building being purchased by the development company. The other would be a parcel consisting of the parking lot and Grand Central Station building behind the main parcel, which is currently owned by Nader Agha.

“It’s very simple to split the property, it’s my prerogative,” said Agha. As far as the process goes, Agha said he felt the city went about it the wrong way but now that they are at this point, “let’s see what they do.”

Agha was not ready to talk about his plans for the Grand Central Station property on Thursday. He has been the Holman block property owner since 1995 and has put it up for sale many times. The last was an online auction which was canceled.